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PHOTO FILE: On February 5, 2019, the BNP Paribas logo is visible in front of a bank branch in Nantes, France. REUTERS / Stephane Mahe
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The French BNP Paribas SA (BNPP.PA) said on Friday that it will no longer fund US private prison operators, the first foreign bank to stand out from a sector shunned by its domestic counterparts amid a controversy over the policies of US detention. Trump administration.
Company spokesman Ilias Catsaros told Reuters the policy change. The decision does not affect existing contractual agreements.
Banks are under pressure to cut ties with the private penitentiary industry since the US President Donald Trump's immigration restrictions have raised concerns about the situation in detention centers. The centers represent about two-thirds of those detained by US immigration and customs agencies and the S & P global ratings estimated last year.
BNP Paribas is one of many banks that have syndicated bonds or loans for at least one of the largest private US prison operators, CoreCivic Inc. (CXW.N) and GEO Group Inc. (GEO.NLast year, lenders raised about $ 1.8 billion for CoreCivic and the GEO group, according to Refinitiv data.
Earlier this year, SunTrust Banks Inc (STI.N), Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) have made similar commitments to phase out loans to private penitentiary companies.
Private prison operators have argued that activists misunderstand the nature of their facilities and have called for politically motivated decisions.
Edited by Cynthia Osterman
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